Report: Iran warns Turkey againt intervention inside Syria

Published July 30th, 2012 - 18:36 GMT

Iran has recently warned Turkey against any attack on Syrian territory, saying that Tehran will retaliate "hardly" against a possible attack on its ally, reported Monday al-Watan newspaper, which is close to the government in Damascus.

Iran has recently warned Turkey against any attack on Syrian territory, saying that Tehran will retaliate "hardly" against a possible attack on its ally, reported Monday al-Watan newspaper, which is close to the government in Damascus. "Turkey has received over the last few hours very strong warnings and the following message: 'beware if you change the playing field," said the paper, quoting an unidentified Arab diplomat.

"Ankara was preparing, alongside the United States, to intervene militarily in the crisis using the Syrian Kurdish issue as a pretext, but Iran has terminated the Turkish dreams," wrote al-Watan.

The Islamic Republic has informed Ankara that it will "harshly retaliate against any attack inside Syrian territory and that Iran would reactivate (if applicable) the joint defense agreement signed with Syria," wrote al-Watan .

This is a "clear response to recent threats by Turkish Prime Minister," the diplomat said. Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Damascus on July 26 to have "given" several areas of northern Syria to the PKK and warned that Ankara could exercise its right of hot pursuit into Syria against the Kurdish rebels.

The Arab diplomat said that "Turkey has agreed with the United States on limited border intervention in northern Syria and especially in the province of Aleppo to create a buffer zone."

The Free Syrian Army r (FSA), whose headquarters are in Turkey, has been trying to win the battle in the city of Aleppo in order to create a "safe zone" in northern Syria.

The Turkish army was continuing Monday, reinforcing its claims near the Syrian border with the deployment of missile batteries, tanks and infantry fighting vehicles in the south, according to Anatolia news agency.